Making your business ‘Ltd’ can be a decision that a lot of people don’t find easy. With changes to tax, legal responsibility and increased admin it can be hard to weigh up whether it’s the right thing to do for you and your business. We understand the trials and tribulations of running a business, here we’ve put together a blog post to make the decision of going ‘Ltd’ easier to make. Pros People often prefer working with limited companies As a limited company you’ll likely find that people will have more confidence in working with you as well as contractsRead More

At ABC Accounting Services, we know that self-assessment can be daunting, confusing and frustrating. We get endless calls and emails seeking advice on self-assessment and the many issues it can cause people. It’s one of life’s more mundane tasks, but it can’t be ignored. Do it incorrectly or late and you’ll incur charges and penalties from HRMC. We’ve put together a list of 10 tips that if you stick to, you’ll nail it first time every time. 1) Make sure that you’ve registered for self-assessment with HMRC – you need a unique code to complete your tax return and sendRead More

There’s plenty of articles on the internet about MTD, most of them contain a lot of information that isn’t relevant to the majority of people. We’ve created this article to compile the relevant, useful information that most of us need to know about Making Tax Digital. Making Tax Digital will be active from April 2019. In basic terms, it is a government scheme that means everybody will have to file tax and payment online as well as keeping records digitally. You’ll have your own account which will give you an overall picture of your tax. ALL business tax willRead More

With 50% of the workforce set to be made up of freelancers by 2020, we’ve compiled a list of our top financial tips for freelancers. We understand the highs and lows of working for yourself, one of the lows can be managing your financial affairs and preparing for the future. From budgets to saving it can be hard to know where to start and how to prioritise costs. These tips should help you to get off on the right foot and give you the freedom you set out to achieve when you began freelancing. 1) Build an emergency fund.Read More

• Dividends received by pensions and ISA’s are unaffected. • Dividend income is treated as the top band of income. • From April 2017, the notional 10% tax credits on dividends is abolished. • The tax-free dividend allowance will be £2000 from 2018/19. Dividends above this level are taxed at 7.5% (basic rate), 32/5% (higher rate) and 38.1% (additional rate). This mostly affects those who work in very small family businesses, in particular couples who split incomes. • Individuals who are basic rate payers who receive dividends of a larger amount than £5001 must now complete self-assessment returns. • TheRead More

VAT Flat Rate Changes – Implications for Low – Cost Traders April 2017 saw changes which mean that small limited companies who have low annual costs face a higher VAT liability if they are using the flat rate scheme (FRS). Unlike the standard VAT scheme, the FRS makes calculations simpler for users. VAT liability would be calculated by applying a fixed percentage to the turnover of a company. The percentage differs dependent on the trade of the company. For example: Client invoice = £1000 + 2-% VAT You owe HMRC 14.5% x £1200 = £174 Those using the FRSRead More

Auto-enrolment- new minimum %s from 6/4/18 New regulation means 1.8 million small business owners in the UK will have to offer an auto-enrolment pension scheme for employees. Auto-enrolment makes it compulsory for employers to enrol eligible workers into a pension scheme, paid into jointly by both the employee and employer. As it currently stands the auto enrolment minimum contribution is 2% of which 1% must be paid by the employer, however in the tax year to come this is set to change: 06/04/18 – 05/04/19: Minimum contribution will be 5% (including 2% minimum employer contribution and 3% staff contribution). 06/04/19-Read More

June 15, 2016 | Comments Off on What do I want with a Chartered Accountant?

Chances are – you don’t. There’s a lot of ballyhoo put about to the effect that in order to keep HMRC at bay you need to engage a Chartered Accountant to look after your affairs. Curiously, most if not all of this noise is made by Chartered Accountants themselves, the ones with most to gain from it. What is a Chartered Accountant? He (or she) left University with a completely irrelevant degree. It might be in ancient Sanskrit, Hebrew mythology or the history of Derbyshire County Cricket Club. Doesn’t matter, all he has to do is demonstrate that he canRead More

From 1 April 2016 workers aged 25 and over will be legally entitled to a new minimum pay rate of £7.20 per hour, called the National Living Wage (NLW). As an employer you’ll need to check which staff are eligible for the new rates and update your payroll in time. You’ll most likely have lots of questions. If you need help or advice on this get in contact with us today on 01427 613613 or info@abc-accounting-services.co.ukRead More

Over 85% of contractors and their authorised agents are already sending us their CIS returns online, but from April 2016 everyone will have to use the online service. HMRC will no longer be accepting any paper forms from that date.To increase filing accuracy, this change will see the introduction of online amendments, online messaging and alerts.We’re also improving the online verification service for you, as from April 2017 everyone will also have to use the online service, HMRC will no longer accept telephone verifications from that date. For contractors and agents currently sending paper returns, you’ll need to register forRead More